Dragon of Ruin
by Halcyon Virtue
Summary: AU. Issei Hyoudou is not just the Red Dragon Emperor. He is also the host of something else. Something far, far worse. Stronger OOC Issei.
1. Prologue

**I don't own anything.**

* * *

 _It was not an uncommon sight anymore, to see it looming above everyone on the battlefield._

 _The entire world seemed to warp around it. Shadows contorted to wrap around it's form from where it was suspended above everyone. Any light that was around it seemed to be devoured as the temperature instantly felt below freezing, despite this being The Underworld._

 _"Not again..." The soldiers knew far too well who it was. This creature was the embodiment of destruction, of total annihilation._

 _Of death._

 _Some of the warriors tried to flee, to take their chances trying to outrun it. They were the first to die. Others, in a sudden bout of foolish courage, would try to attack it head on. They were also dispatched of in the blink of an eye._

 _Many, however, just gave up and waited for their inevitable death. And it would be given to them._

 _This creature left a trail of complete and utter devastation wherever it went. Thousands of soldiers would attack it, and they would all be cut down with ease. Any who saw it on the battlefield very rarely lived to tell the tale._

 _It's reason for doing this was unknown. All that was known is that it would show up every once in a while and kill. Angel, Fallen, Devil, Youkai, Humans, even Dragons, it didn't matter, it didn't care. No matter how strong, how weak, they'd be swiftly put down all the same._

 _It would come across a battle of the Great War..._

 _And then just minutes later, there would be no battle. Just like that. Barely anything left to see that there was a battle in the first place._

 _Then it would disappear, and resurface at another battle._

 _Over and over again. With seemingly no end to it's crusade._

 _And the process would repeat itself somewhere else with more poor souls unfortunate enough to cross paths with it._

 _Soon enough, there was only one warrior left at this specific battle. A devil. Blonde, with fear in his eyes as the man hidden in shadows slowly approached it._

 _Whether it be out of desperation, or hope, or stupidity, or a combination of all three, the devil decided to make a final stand. He gathered flame in his hands._

 _And, to his horror,_ w _hen he hurled it at his opponent, the flames disappeared. As if the shadows around it were a black hole._

 _Faster than the devils eyes could follow, it moved. In the blink of an eye, there was a pitch black claw around the devils throat._

 _Being this close to the creature was like looking into the void._

 _I_ _nfinite, empty, and absolute._

 _Another claw, just as dark and just as absolutely terrifying moved agonizingly slow in front of the devils face. Something bright flashed in front of the devils eyes._

 _Then, there was only darkness._

* * *

Issei Hyoudou sat at his desk, looking at the brochure for the new school his parents had signed him up for.

 _Kuoh Academy_

The most prestigious school in the town. And the most expensive.

How his parents could afford this, Issei had no idea. Whenever asked, they had told him not to worry about it, that they could afford it, and it was worth it for him.

It's not like they had much of a choice, though. Issei was never really able to make friends. Thus, he ended up moving schools a lot. Sure, he knew they were starting to run out of schools, but he didn't think they'd send him to _this_ place.

The teen couldn't figure out why they even chose this one. Now that he thought about it, his parents were acting odd, almost dazed, when they told him he would be transferring.

"Issei?"

The teen turned his head to look at the doorway, where his mother now stood.

"Excited for your new school?" Mrs. Hyoudou was a woman of average height, she had brown eyes and hair, much like her son.

Issei nodded his head, his attention not leaving the brochure in front of him.

Mrs. Hyoudou had a sad smile on her face. "I'm sure this one will be better."

She shut the door.

* * *

It wasn't.

Once again, Issei watched all of his classmates look anywhere but at him while he introduced himself. His teacher made more of an effort, at least looking in his general direction, but never meeting his eyes.

The teacher directed him to a seat in the back of the class, as far away from him as possible, and Issei obliged, burying his head in his arms, though not before seeing everyone in a desk around him try to inch away from him the best they could

Nobody acknowledged him for the rest of the day, other than very brief looks out of the corner of their eyes.

When the bell finally rang, Issei was one of the first ones to leave the school grounds.

He was unaware of the crimson haired girl watching him from a window.

* * *

Issei made the long trip home by himself.

As expected, he received a plethora of dirty looks from people he passed. Kids stopped laughing and instead adopted looks of fear, some older ones even had looks of hatred.

Issei kept his eyes forward, this had been going on for too long for him to show any hurt from it.

It had been like that since he was a young child. After his first and last friend, Irina, had left, he was unable to make any other friends. Everyone just started avoiding him.

After all the money his parents sunk into this school, it would be the same thing all over again. Silently, Issei promised to himself that he would stay at this school. That no matter what, he wouldn't transfer again, for nothing else than to make his parents financial investment worth it.

The sun was still relatively high in the sky, but all he felt was cold. Absentmindedly, he wondered if that's what people felt all the time around him.

Lost in his own thoughts, he almost didn't hear the voice behind him.

"You're Issei Hyoudou, right?... Would you go out with me?"

* * *

"Could you do something for me, Issei?"

"S-Sure! What is it?"

 _"Will you die for me?"_

* * *

"So you're the kid Raynare killed. You're still alive? How annoying. No worries, I'll put you out of your misery..."

* * *

 **BEEP BEEP BEEP… BEEP BEEP BEEP**

Issei's eyes flew open. His hand slammed down on his alarm clock.

"Another weird dream… What is it with-"

"It wasn't a dream." A voice to his left said. Issei jumped out of his bed and his head jerked over to the noise.

The first thing he noticed was her hair. An unbelievably vibrant shade of red, it perfectly framed her face. The second thing he noticed was her eyes. Calculating blue-green orbs looked at (scrutinized) him from where she leaned against his desk, sipping what looked like tea.

The third? Her chest, swaying with every small movement she took.

Issei was too stunned to talk. She carried on. "Yep. Everything that happened to you these last few days were real. All of it."

"W-who…"

"As you may or may not know, my name is Rias Gremory. What you don't know is, I am a devil. And your master." There was a small smirk on a perfect pale face. "Nice to meet you, Issei Hyoudou."

"A D-devil? Wha-"

"Yes, a devil. I'll answer all your questions soon. After school, someone will fetch you. Wait for them, okay?" At his small nod, she continued. "I must be going now. I believe your mother is currently coming up the stairs to wake you." She began to glow a faint red.

"H-how…?" In his panic at the implications of what she said, he failed to register that she was glowing. Issei's head whipped around towards the door, and then around his room.

"You need to-" When he turned around, Rias Gremory had vanished.

A moment later, Mrs. Hyoudou knocked on the door.

* * *

Like every other day at this school, Issei was avoided at all costs. He stared out the window by his seat, barely paying attention to the lessons. Due to being ignored by teacher and students alike, he was left to his own thoughts nearly all day, all of them about what's transpired the last two days.

Mainly, how he was stabbed and killed twice.

Once, when the only person outside of his parents who's been kind to him in years suddenly grew wings and threw a bright spear at him. He had believed at the time that it was a dream, especially when his parents said they had no recollection of her. The second was when another person with wings called him a stray (whatever the hell that was) and killed the next day.

Except this time, he woke up to the hottest girl in the entire school, which normally would to be great, except she said she was a devil and his master, which wasn't so great.

He had so many questions.

How were devils real? Why is one of them his 'master'? How is she his master? What did that even entail? What were those winged creatures that killed him? What is a Sacred Gear? Wh-

"Issei Hyoudou?" A voice snapped him out of his thoughts.

Issei's, and everyone else's, heads turned to the blonde teenager in the doorway.

"Kiba!" A handful of the girls squealed, accompanied with groans from the males in the classroom, particularly by two boys sitting in front of Issei.

"Will you come with me?" Kiba asked him with clearly faked politeness.

 _This is the guy sent to fetch me?_

Issei got out of his seat without a word.

He heard someone whisper "What does Kiba want with _him_?" as he walked out.

* * *

Once Issei and Kiba reached the Clubroom, the blonde left, mumbling something about "The President" before leaving him.

Surveying the room, Issei's head turned just in time to see a small, white haired girl shudder on the couch. She ignored him.

The all too familiar pain welled up inside of him.

He wanted to flee; to leave this place and go home and stay there for the rest of his life. He-

"You're the new guy, huh?" He turned and saw a beautiful girl with black hair, one that initiated the conversation with him no less. His delight was short lived when he saw she had the same look on her face that Kiba did.

"I'm Akeno Himejima, it's very nice to meet you."

Issei gave his name and greeting, though considerably less forced than her own.

"Well, I better go prepare some tea."

Issei found himself sitting across from Kiba and the white haired girl, the blonde had said her name was Koneko, with Akeno serving tea to everyone. She served Issei last and hurried back into what he guessed was a kitchen area with the tray, reappearing a moment later and moving to stand behind Kiba and Koneko.

Rias Gremory leaned against her large wooden desk to the right of the couches.

"Now," she began, trying and failing to ignore the chills that ran down her spine because of him. "It is time we formally welcome you to the Occult Research Club" There was a smile on her face, but it failed to seem genuine.

"Though you should know, the club is just a front for what we really do."

"What?"

She smirked. "I'm not the only devil here, Issei. Everyone in this room is. Including you." To emphasize this point, her wings bursted out of her back. Everyone else did the same.

Once Issei's shock had subsided, Rias continued. "The winged man and the girl that killed you a few days ago were something else, Fallen Angels. They, along with Devils, make up two of the Three Great Factions, with Angels being the third one..." Even as she started her deeper explanation of the Three Factions, their current relationship, and other things relating to the supernatural world, Rias could tell Issei was completely dumbfounded. She sighed, he would have to catch up as they go.

Besides, there are much more pressing matters at hand anyway. Like his Sacred Gear.

"There is something I need you to do for me, Issei."

* * *

 **The chapters will be longer going forward. The first part will make a lot more sense (hopefully) soon.**


	2. Chapter 1

**Had to reupload this. Sorry if you got the notification twice.**

* * *

" _There is something I need you to do for me, Issei"_

"What is it?"

"Remember what I told you about Sacred Gears?" The new devil nodded slowly. "I believe you have a very powerful one. And we need to activate it."

"How do I do that?"

"Close your eyes, and focus on the part of your body that you feel is the strongest." Rias explained. He did as he was told, and, despite shaking from the strain he was putting on his left arm, nothing happened.

"Hmm, perhaps a small… push, is needed." Rias looked over to Akeno, and a second later there was a crackling sound in the room.

"What-" Issei was given the answer to his unfinished question when his back got electrocuted.

It felt like a _little_ bit more than a small push.

The brunette felt the electricity move through his entire body… except his left arm. Instead of a light shock, his left arm from his elbow down _burned_.

"What the hell-" before abruptly stopping.

Everyone was staring at him, wide eyed.

"What?"

It was then Issei realized they were staring specifically at his left arm. His eyes followed their gaze.

Where his left arm should be is instead a Red Gauntlet, adorned with golden spikes and a green jewel, going up to his elbow. His eyes widened.

A grin spread across Rias Gremory's face. " _The Boosted Gear."_

"It seems my eight pawns were very worth it, after all."

Issei believed that Rias was talking about Sacred Gears, but he was too busy studying the gauntlet to pay much attention to her.

* * *

Rias Gremory was perplexed, to say the least.

Her new servant, Issei Hyoudou, was still a complete mystery to her.

He was the new Red Dragon Emperor, which was more than she could have dreamed of when she decided to reincarnate him. But there is a problem with that.

It does not explain the effect he has on others. The Boosted Gear has nothing to do with the chilling atmosphere that follows him around.

The question now is, what does?

She assumed his… aura, if that was even the right thing to call it, was due to a Sacred Gear. But she couldn't recall a Sacred Gear with that kind of effect. And people with two Sacred Gears were nearly unheard of to begin with, much less one with a Longinus.

After he activated it, she sent him to start handing out flyers after talking to him about training. Daily training would be needed to get him in peak physical condition, something he needed to be able to handle the Boosted Gear's power.

With the rest of her peerage out with their regulars, it left her alone with time to think.

Either she was wrong in her earlier assessment of him being completely human, which isn't likely, or...

Rias would have to scour her extensive collection of books on Sacred Gears soon. In fact, she-

The crimson haired devil felt him before she heard or saw him. The aura that follows him wherever he goes washed over her about ten seconds before he opened the door, placing the now empty bag where it was before he grabbed it.

"I passed out all of the fliers. Can I go home now?"

Her nodding head was all he needed to see before turning around. He barely registered her voice saying "Please come back tomorrow."

* * *

Issei groaned.

Handing out flyers was a nightmare, considering it was difficult for anyone that wasn't his parents to be anywhere near him. He had gotten all of one person, a black haired man with golden bangs, to willingly take one when he walked near them.

To get rid of the rest, Issei had resorted to forcefully shoving them into people's hands or into random mailboxes.

He was pretty sure Rias wouldn't approve of his methods, but after nearly an hour of trying and failing to get near enough to anyone, he couldn't find it in him to care about what she would say.

Once he had gone back to the school to check in with Rias, which was all the way across town, and walking back to his house, it was well past his curfew.

After assuring his parents that everything was fine, and quickly wolfing down dinner, he had to do all of his homework, which took about an hour.

It was nearly two in the morning when his head finally hit the pillow.

He dreamed of Devils, Fallen Angels, and, strangely enough, a Red Dragon.

* * *

Issei had settled into a rhythm, in his new life. Over the last few days, he woke up, trained with Rias, went to school, got ignored by everybody, headed to the club room where he just seemed to make everybody uncomfortable - since they don't really have the option to avoid him - and then went to hand out fliers.

His training, for the most part, was just standard exercise. Running, push ups, etcetera.

He also trained his reflexes, dodging attacks thrown at him. He was pretty sure Akeno was disappointed when he became able to dodge most.

After he is able to get rid of all of the fliers, he goes home, had dinner with his parents, rushed through his homework, and went to sleep. Rinse and repeat.

Who knew that life as a devil would be so... normal?

Or close to it, at least.

Sure, he had less time to himself now - not that he needed that much anyway - but other than that, being a devil wasn't all too different for him to being a human. So far, anyway.

This time, however, when he walked into the club room, he could tell something was off.

All the members were stiff, but they were always like that around him, but this time none of them even tried to give him a forced smile. Rias turned to him, face set in stone.

"There is a stray in the area, and we are tasked with taking it out."

"A stray?" The brunette asked.

"You remember what those were, right?"

"Um…" He scratched the back of his head.

Rias sighed. "I suppose it doesn't matter right now. Let's go."

* * *

The Stray Devil, Rias believed she had said her name was Viser, ended up not being a problem in the slightest for her and her peerage.

It was a typical story. She had gotten drunk on power and left her master before tricking and eating a few people in the Kuoh area. They had eliminated it in a matter of minutes with no issue to speak of.

Though, she supposed it was a good way to introduce Issei to combat.

* * *

It's a frightening sight, for most. To open your eyes and not be able to see a foot in front of you. Most would try to run, to find their way out, at least do something.

But not Issei. When he opened his eyes only to be surrounded in total darkness, he had no fear, only temporary shock.

And then, just confusion.

He knew he had never been here before, but he still felt a sense of familiarity from it, not unlike one that would be found in one's childhood home. It reminded him of himself.

A bright flash exploded in front of Issei's eyes, so bright that he had to shield his eyes. When he opened his eyes he wasn't in darkness anymore.

He was surrounded by fire.

 **[... strong enough to hear… now]**

"W-what?"

 **[It's been awhile since I've manifested myself in this form…]**

"Who are you?... Where are you?"

Another bright flash. A red dragon now towered over Issei.

 **[I am Ddraig, one of the Two Heavenly Dragons, and the being that resides in your left arm.]** A deep chuckle rang out.

 **[Nice to meet you, Issei Hyoudou]**

* * *

If Issei could have fainted, he was sure he would have.

A red dragon at least twenty time his size just appeared in front of him - he still hasn't figured out where that is, by the way - in the blink of an eye.

"So you're the Sacred Gear... Yuuma, was talking about, the reason I was… The reason why everyone hates me?"

He heard the dragon sigh. **[I am why the fallen attempted to kill you. But your aura, it has nothing to do with me.]**

"Then what is it?"

 **[I have no clue.]**

" _You_ don't seem very affected by it." Issei noted. The dragon snorted.

 **[Before getting sealed, I was one of the strongest beings in the universe. Your aura is not nearly strong enough to have much of an effect on me.]**

"How did that happen anyway? Getting sealed?" Ddraig sighed.

 **[It's a long story, Hyoudou.]**

Issei looked around. "I think we have the time."

 **[Very well then, I assume your master has told you about The Great War?]**

The teen paused. "How do you know about that?"

 **[I awoke when the Fallen Angel killed you. It has taken me this long to contact you, on account of the Boosted Gear remaining inactive. I picked up some things before now.]**

"Oh."

With that, Ddraig began an explanation of his rival, Albion, how they both were sealed into Sacred Gears, and how he was now fated to fight the host of the White Dragon.

About ten minutes and more than half a dozen questions Issei interjected with later, the story was over.

 **[** **Anything else?]**

"Not really."

 **[Then may I ask you a question?]**

"Sure." Issei responded immediately. It only seemed fair.

 **[Have you felt... normal, since gaining the Boosted Gear?]**

That's not what he expected. "Yes."

 **[That's a relief...]**

"Why do you ask?"

 **[We will talk more soon, Issei Hyoudou. Rest, now.]**

* * *

Issei shot up in his bed.

 _Why do I have such strange dreams?_

 **[While it technically was a dream, it was not one in the sense that you are imagining it to be.]** The deep voice from his dream spoke again.

Issei's head whipped around his room - not seeing anyone, obviously - before mentally slapping himself half a second later.

"Sorry Ddraig."

 **[Don't worry. It took most of my hosts time to get used to it]**

"I was sleeping the entire time?"

 **[Yes. It was the easiest way to contact you.]**

Sighing, he pulled himself out of bed. He had to get ready for school.

* * *

Strangely enough, Rias told Issei that he didn't need to pass out any flyers today. Issei found himself heading home right after school, something he hasn't done in a while. He was left alone with his thoughts for the entire trip to his house.

Issei wasn't quite sure how he felt about being a devil.

He was overwhelmed at first, as anyone who had died and been reincarnated as a different species would be, but now that he got the chance to actually think about it, he was conflicted.

He didn't really want to be a part of the supernatural world. The way she had described it, it was for almost the rest of eternity. He had no choice in something that will affect him for the rest of his life, which will be nearly forever now.

His only option at this time would be to go stray, like Viser. But what good would that do? He saw how easily she was eliminated, and she was easily more powerful than him. Rias had explained to him that Stray's were not tolerated by any faction, so it would only be a matter of time before he would be killed by some supernatural being.

Speaking of his master...

He couldn't deny that Rias saved his life twice. Even if he didn't necessarily like her methods of saving him, he would be dead without her. Multiple times over.

He was grateful for that, if nothing else.

She had told him that he could rank up in The Underworld and get servants of his own someday. But to do that he had to get contracts.

So far his two attempts at getting a contract had, unsurprisingly, gone terribly.

His first try was one of Koneko's regulars. He didn't even let Issei in the door, on account of his effect and him not being the white haired girl 'he asked for'. He at least got into the door on his second attempt, but now he wished that he didn't.

There were very few people who could pull off a magical girl costume, and a muscular man in his mid thirties was _definitely_ not one of them. That time, Issei was the one who hurried away from someone else, not the other way around, for once.

Though not after spending ninety minutes watching weird shows and explaining why he couldn't turn the man into a magical girl.

Lost in his thoughts, Issei didn't realize where he was walking until he bumped into something and heard a surprised "Oomf!"

When his eyes looked at what made the sound, Issei was surprised, to say the least.

There sprawled out on the ground, with her belongings strewed everywhere, was a blond girl wearing nun's clothing.

After a moment of staring dumbly at her, Issei moved to help her, grabbing anything he could that could be blown away by the wind.

"Are you alright?" He asked, extending a hand to her after he put all that he had grabbed in her suitcase.

"Yes… Thank you." She hesitated for a moment before grabbing his hand, allowing him to pull her up. "My name is Asia Argento, by the way." She added.

"Issei Hyoudou." He replied.

"Would you happen to know where the church is?"

* * *

Friendly, albeit awkward, chatter ensued as they made their way throughout Kuoh. She was clearly affected by being around him, he could tell easily despite her attempts of hiding it.

Trying not to seem rude, he imagined.

Despite the sharp pain in his head whenever she mentioned God, which was about every other sentence, Issei believed she was a normal sister of the church.

But about ten minutes and what felt like the same amount of times she tripped over herself later - why anyone thought it was a good idea to send this girl halfway around the world by herself, Issei would never understand - the thought that she was normal was blown away.

As she was telling him about Italy, where she came from, a cry filled the air.

There was a little boy sobbing with a scraped knee. Pretty normal.

What wasn't normal was Asia, who had rushed over and kneeled beside him, held her hands to the boy's cut, and it was enveloped in a green glow.

 _What the hell?_

The kid, in shock, stuttered out a thank you, looked at Issei, and ran away.

Issei saw hurt flash through Asia's eyes before she walked back to him. He tried to convince her that it was because of him, but the sister didn't seem any happier about it. He chose not to take it further.

"Nice ability you got there." He blurted out.

"It's a gift from God" She explained, missing Issei wince again.

The brunette chose not to respond. The rest of the trip was in silence, up until they reached their destination and Asia thanked him again.

Issei was about halfway home when he realized how odd it was that a nun who happened to have a healing ability would be sent to a church that's been abandoned for years.

* * *

 **Couldn't really find a great place to end it. The actual AU part should start next chapter.**


	3. Chapter 2

**I've had this chapter ready for a few days, but it seems like this site suffers glitch after glitch.**

* * *

The sun was just beginning to rise, small rays of light reflected off of broken glass made the field barely visible.

What could be seen was a huge arm, littered with slashes and bruises on the little skin left that wasn't completely charred, lying next to a half destroyed building.

The only remains left of a newly dead being.

A figure looked at the arm from above, cloaked perfectly as to not alert the Devil King's little sisters - as if it was needed, they were mere children, despite their embarrassing attempts to not appear so - though, one of the new devils supposedly wields the Boosted Gear, so it would be best to cloak on the off chance Ddraig would notice.

It was almost sad, to see the arm laying there; forgotten. Such a waste of a creature, to have been that weak.

There's a far greater purpose it could be used for.

The figure descended down next to the scorched appendage.

A yellow magic circle lit up next to the arm while the figured muttered a few words in a language that hadn't been spoken in thousands of years.

Satisfied, the figured, still shrouded in shadows, rose into the night sky again.

A few seconds later, the area was completely barren again.

Except for the arm, which began to shake.

* * *

Issei noticed two things when he woke up.

The first was how utterly exhausted he felt. It was as if he had not slept at all.

The second, that he wasn't in his bed. Instead, he was laying on the floor. He hadn't even changed out of his school uniform.

How did he end up here?

 _ **[BOOST]**_

 _For the fourth time, the distinct voice of the Red Dragon rang out, in his head anyway, he wouldn't want to alert his parents because of the sealed dragon's booming voice._

 _This was the second part of Issei's training. After all of the physical training he did before and after school, he would return home and try to boost as many times as he can._

 _Sweat lined his forehead, and he visibly struggled to handle the effect of doubling his powers four times over. Though he felt that he was starting to get used to the power that flowed through him._

 _ **[BOOST]**_

 _He could keep going. He wants to get stronger. He has to get strong-_

 _ **[RESET]**_

Fuck.

Groaning, Issei picked himself off of the floor and flopped onto his bed. He should still have a little bit of time before he would have to get ready for school.

The ringing of his alarm clock filled his ears a moment later.

* * *

The book Rias had been sleeping next to fell to the floor with a booming sound, instantly waking her from her slumber. Her head shot up, looking around for a second, not remembering what she was doing the night before.

She looked to the floor the noise originated from.

Right. The books.

She was looking through the extensive amounts of Sacred Gears the devils knew of and had put in a series of books. She was trying to find one that described an aura like Issei's.

Three full books, thousands of pages, a couple nights of very little sleep later, and she had nothing to show for it. Not a single gear she looked at described anything remotely close to what she was looking for.

She looked down to the book she was looking at last night.

The page she was on before falling asleep was now wet with drool.

Ew.

A simple spell and the book was in pristine condition once again.

As Rias went through the mundane tasks of her morning, her mind wandered, as it often did these days, to her new pawn.

Issei was kind enough to them, despite their probably obvious faked kindness towards them, but he spent no more time than what was absolutely necessary around the rest of the peerage. Rias had never seen this, the rest of her peerage had always created a bond with each other fairly quickly.

Even Koneko was starting to get close to them at this point in the beginning of her reincarnation.

But Issei? He stayed distant.

She wondered what they could do to get closer with him.

Rias looked at the clock and nearly jumped. It was almost time for classes to start.

* * *

A sleepless night, showing up almost late to school, and two pop quizzes that he certainly failed later, Issei dragged himself into the club room.

Definitely not being in the mood for the others fake politeness, he grabbed the flyers and left without even looking at them.

* * *

The now familiar aura washed over Rias again, gaining a shiver from the heiress as her pawn opened the door.

He looked around the room after noticing her, not expecting her to be alone.

"Issei," She tried saying it with kindness, but if his reaction - or lack thereof - was any indication, she wasn't doing a very good job.

"Thank you for passing out the flyers. Now, there is a summoning request request that no other member is available for. I need you to take care of it. Think you can handle it?"

 _Of course not._ "Uh, yeah, sure. Where is it?"

She gave him the directions, and he was gone without another word.

* * *

It was starting to get dark by the time Issei got to the house. The first thing he noticed was that the lights, at least the ones he could see from outside, weren't on. Strange.

He rang the doorbell, not receiving an answer. After a few moments, he pushed the button again. Still nothing. The brunette resorted to knocking, each one louder than the last until he was practically pounding on the door.

 **[I don't like this…]**

Issei chose not to answer the dragon. He didn't like it either, but what choice did he have?

Giving up, he tried to open the door, surprised when it was unlocked.

"Hello? Anybody home?" Issei called out. He headed towards the only room with a light on. He instantly regretted it.

On the floor in the living room, sprawled out and covered in blood, was most likely the person who had summoned him. His legs were bent at angles that Issei didn't think was physically possible for the lower limbs and internal organs were spilling out from a huge gash in his stomach.

His death, clearly, was a painful one.

Bile rose in Issei's throat, he pushed it down and slowly started to back up. A voice came from his left, freezing him in place.

"I will punish the world for it's evil, and the wicked for their sins."

Issei was made acutely aware that _he wasn't alone._

There was a white haired man dressed in priest robes sitting on a couch.

 **[This man has to be an exorcist. Watch out.]**

 _Any suggestions?_

 **[Flee. You can't win this battle.]**

"That was Isaiah 13:11, if you didn't know. Which I'm guessing you didn't, considering your devil scum."

Just how casual he said that struck Issei as odd. There wasn't any real malice in his words.

He sounded more amused than anything.

Eyes half lidded, tongue hanging out, he had the look of a deranged man.

He got up and began walking towards Issei, who matched his pace by backing away.

"You… you did this?" Issei asked, horrified at the sight in front of him.

"I did! Isn't it beautiful?" The man started cackling.

"No! He was a person!" Issei protested.

"NO HE WASN'T. He gave that up when he tried to summon a devil!"

"W-what?"

The deranged priest carried on as if Issei had said nothing. "Father Freed Selzen is my name." He gave a small bow before pulling out a sword hilt and pistol. "I'd ask yours, but it doesn't matter because _you'll be dead soon!_ " With a maniacal grin, he lunged at Issei.

 **[BOOST]**

Issei barely jumped out of the way in time, and materialized his gauntlet.

"Ooh, what a shiny toy you got there, I can't wait to mount it on my wall after cutting your arm off!"

Freed lunged at the brunette a second time, who dodged again, quicker this time.

The exorcist seemed to be ready for this, however, because he had shot where Issei jumped, striking the teen in the knee, causing him to cry out in pain and fall to the floor.

 **[BOOST]**

As Issei tried to get back to his feet, the deranged exorcist positioned his sword above Issei's head, ready for the killing blow.

A scream rang out in the room, getting the attention of both the devil and the exorcist.

"What the fuck? What are you doing here Asia?"

It was... the nun that Issei had shown to the church. With all that's been going on, he had forgotten about her.

She was staring at the body, an even more horrified look than Issei's on her face.

"How could you do this?" Asia cried out, staring at the body.

 **[BOOST]**

"Quiet! You… he summoned a devil!" Freed yelled back, gesturing wildly at Issei. Asia, just noticing his presence for the first time, gasped again.

"No... it can't be. You're a devil, Issei?"

"What? Wait…" A grin slowly spread across Freed's face. "Do you know him?" He started laughing. "Oh my God! It's a devil scum and holy sister love story! It's so heartwarming I want to puke my guts out just like that guy!" He gestured at the dead body with his sword.

 **[BOOST]**

"SHUT UP!" Freed screeched, more at the gauntlet than at Issei. He swung his sword at the devil again, until having to suddenly halt again when Asia jumped in front of Issei.

"Please, Father! I beg you, show mercy!" The nun pleaded.

"What? No! He's a devil, you little slut! He doesn't get mercy! Get out of the way!"

"No, please!"

"ENOUGH" Freed grabbed Asia and threw her out of the way.

But instead of turning his attention back to Issei, he kneeled over the nun and began grabbing at her clothes. The nun tried to push him off, but was frozen in shock or pain when the back of Freed's hand collided with her cheek.

"The Fallen said I couldn't hurt you, so I'll just have to be a little gentle…"

Issei felt something inside of him _snap_ as he glared daggers at the priest.

 **[BOOST]**

A green aura began to form around the devil.

 **[BOOST]**

 **[Almost there…]**

The bullet hole in his leg didn't seem like much of a hindrance anymore.

 **[BOOST]**

A black, less noticeable aura formed around him as well, but that was overshadowed by it's green counterpart, which was growing brighter and more powerful by the second.

 **[EXPLOSION]**

"GET AWAY FROM HER!"

The green aura around Issei turned into flames that shot out towards Freed.

* * *

The exorcist barely had time to look over at the injured devil before he was enveloped in fire.

It wasn't powerful enough to do anything aside from singe his hair and clothes. It still hurt though. A lot.

He screamed and jumped away.

Strangely, the flames didn't hurt Asia at all, despite them also engulfing her. She still laid on the ground, petrified.

Freed lunged again, swiping wildly at Issei, who rolled out of the way.

"What the hell, you shitty devil?" he yelled. "Why wont you die!"

Freed didn't seem as fast as he was a few minutes ago, at least to Issei. The time he had to boost definitely helped.

The brunette could follow his movements a lot better, and found it easier to dodge. This didn't stop Freed from continuously swinging like a madman.

Sparks flew when light sword met gauntlet. This time, Freed pulled out his pistol and pointed it directly at Issei's head. The devil barely hit it to the side in time when it fired what would have been a fatal shot of pure light - how the hell was that even possible - into the wall.

Issei knew he was running out of time. He wouldn't be able to keep this up forever.

Freed swung again, and Issei jumped back just in time. His back hit the wall of the house.

He was trapped.

The exorcist gained a sick smile when he realized the same. He stabbed at Issei.

With no other options left, Issei threw his head to the left. The light sword connected with the wall where Issei's head had been a second earlier and got stuck. The priest took his attention off of Issei and tried to pry his sword loose.

Seeing the opening, Issei channeled all of the power he could into his gauntlet clad fist and sent it towards Freed.

What happened next felt like it was going in slow motion for the devil.

A grin spread across Freed's face.

The light sword embedded in the wall disappeared, leaving only the hilt. This was about when Issei realized his mistake.

The teen could faintly hear Ddraig saying something, probably about said fatal mistake.

Freed easily dodged Issei's strike.

The light sword materialized again and he sliced a deep cut into the brunette's back, causing him to fall to the ground.

He was vaguely aware of Asia calling his name.

Freed kicked Issei in the stomach making him roll near to the center of the room. Then, he took out his gun.

Issei had taken the bait.

BANG. A bullet right under his ribcage.

Another bullet, this one piercing his lung.

Freed was no longer trying to kill him.

He was torturing him.

Issei tried crawling away, but it was obvious he wouldn't be getting very far. He could vaguely see the outline of Freed advancing towards him.

When his death seemed all but certain, a magic circle opened behind him.

* * *

Black and Red energy poured out of of the circle, forcing Freed to jump out of the way as Rias and Koneko appeared in the house.

The priest looked towards Asia, where she had pulled herself to her feet.

"You were supposed to set up the barrier!"

"I-I…"

His boot connected with her ribs before she could finish her thought.

Koneko got into a fighting stance. Rias just stood normally, letting an intimidating black and red aura form around her.

"You dare attack one of my dear servants?" The Heiress asked, anger laced in her voice. Freed looked back, as if noticing them for the first time.

"Two more for me to kill? Wonderful! It's a foursome!" He was back to laughing, his anger from a few seconds ago vanished.

Rias laughed. "You really think you can take the both of us alone?"

"Who said anything about alone?" The priest gave a wicked grin when magic circles formed on the ceiling. Koneko stared at the circles, analyzing them.

"Fallen Angels are coming." She informed Rias.

Rias weighed her options for a moment before responding. She sighed.

"Grab Issei and lets go. We aren't prepared for a battle like this."

Koneko lifted Issei's prone form like he weighed nothing. She carried him over to the magic circle Rias had formed.

He was barely able to choke out. "Wait... Asia."

"Only members of my peerage can make the jump."

"NO. ASIA"

Her green eyes were the last thing he saw before they teleported out.

* * *

 **A lot of the time, I find myself cringing whenever authors write Issei and Ddraig as close friends. Few can pull it off, it just comes off as really awkward for the most part. Expect Ddraig to take a backseat for a lot of things, for the time being.**


	4. Chapter 3

**Reminder that this is an AU, an that the characters are my interpretation of them, to an extent. Expect OOC in this chapter.**

* * *

When Issei opened his eyes again, he was in a dark room.

He looked over his arms to find that none of the cuts from the fight present.

Guess that was the perk of being a devil.

A few blinks to clear his vision - thankfully the lights were off - later, Issei sat up, despite his side screaming in protest. Looking in the floor mirror to his left showed a body far more toned than what it was just a few weeks ago, with a new jagged scar running down the side.

That didn't look like it was going away anytime soon.

"Good, you're up."

Rias Gremory stood in the doorway, a folded Kuoh Academy shirt in her hands. She handed it to him and he began trying to put it on without hurting himself too much.

"Issei, I am so sorry. I had no idea that an exorcist would be there."

"Why would you just leave her?"

She momentarily paused at the bite in his voice, a face of concern replaced with surprise for half a second.

Only half a second, because she had expected him to be angry in the back of her mind.

"Issei, I told you, only members of our peerage can make the teleportation jump."

"Then we could've not used the circle! Or some of us could've, or we could have just stayed and fought-"

" _Issei._ " She interrupted. "You were slowly dying. Koneko and I wouldn't have been able to defeat the exorcist and multiple Fallen Angels _and_ transport you and the nun here _without_ teleporting quickly enough to save your life."

"Then you should've saved her and left me. I could've-"

"As a member of my household, you take priority. I value your life over this nun you've suddenly become attached to."

"I-"

"You are a devil, Issei. And for whatever reason, she decided to align herself with Fallen Angel's. I trust that I don't have to re-explain the current relationship between The Factions. Is this girl really worth starting another war?"

"Yes" There wasn't a hint of hesitation in his answer.

Rias sighed. "That is a very naive mindset, Issei. Think realistically about this."

"Cowardly, you mean?" Even Issei himself was taken aback from the bite in his voice.

"What's the point of having this power if I can't use it to help people like her? Is my only purpose to serve _you_?"

"Of course not-"

But Issei was already walking past her and leaving.

* * *

Rias watched her pawn storm out of the building.

She had some explaining to do.

That wasn't what she was worried about, however. Her pawn was sensible enough; he would come around soon. Due to his recent his reincarnation, he doesn't understand why there wasn't much she could do in this situation. He had no sense of how shaky the truce was and how easily it could come undone.

Rather, she was more interested in _how_ he stormed out than why.

She saw his injuries when she arrived at the house. He had been cut and shot numerous times by light weapons; he's lucky to still be alive, much less walking just a few hours later.

That isn't normal. _He_ isn't normal, even for a Longinus user.

Issei Hyoudou just keeps getting more and more interesting.

* * *

A few hours later, Issei flopped down onto his bed and groaned.

Thankfully, Rias had handled his parents, so he didn't have to worry when he arrived home.

Another night of very limited sleep seemed to be in the cards for Issei Hyoudou.

When his head hit the pillow, there was one question that was in the forefront of his mind.

 _How did I use that fire?_

 **[It is one of the Boosted Gear's abilities]**

Issei jumped, startled. He had forgotten there was someone listening to his thoughts.

"What do you mean?"

 **[Do you remember what I told about myself? That I had flames capable of incinerating anything in its path?]**

"So you're saying I have that power too?"

 **[You do have a tendency of pointing out the obvious.]**

Issei chose to ignore that part. He didn't fancy getting into an argument with an ancient dragon that lived inside his arm. He still did have a shred of dignity, after all.

"No offense, but the flames barely singed Freed's clothes. They didn't look like they could incinerate anything."

 **[You just gained the ability to use them. The flames will grow stronger as your control over the Boosted Gear does.]**

"So, what else can the Boosted Gear do?"

 **[Many things that you likely won't be ready for for years to come. It is best not to focus on them now.]**

With that, Issei decided to head to bed, silently vowing to himself that it wouldn't take him years to master this power. That he would be strong enough to save Asia.

With a plan already forming in his head, Issei slipped into unconsciousness.

* * *

Most of the next couple of days were a blur for Issei. He spent most of the first one healing, stuck in his bed. For the rest, he was on autopilot throughout school and handing out flyers, which Rias mentioned that he would be done with soon.

That was a relief, considering he still had to shove them in mailboxes for the most part.

Throughout the day, his mind was preoccupied, like it usually is during school, but this time, not with training or contracts or flyers. But on a certain green eyed nun.

This time his mind was solely filled with two things. Getting revenge for himself and saving Asia.

Freed had mentioned Fallen Angels before Rias made the decision to leave - _flee_ \- he didn't need many guesses to figure out who they were.

He supposed it was about time for another meeting with Raynare.

* * *

Issei got back to the Old School Building at the same time Rias was leaving, citing that something had come up.

Good. That just made things easier.

Issei put the flyer bag where it always was and was prepared to leave when Kiba's voice stopped him.

"You're going to die there, you know." The Knight's tone was casual, despite the subject. Issei stiffened.

"... I don't know what you're talking about."

"Don't play dumb, it's easy enough to figure out what you're going to do."

Issei turned back to him, face set in stone, and doing his best to ignore the dragon in his head agreeing with the blonde devil.

"You aren't going to talk me out of it."

Kiba chuckled. "Wouldn't dream of it. I want to help."

Issei's eyes narrowed. "Why?"

"We're in the same peerage, can't have you dying just yet." He had that coy smile on his face that Issei heard made all the girls in the Academy swoon.

"You too, Koneko?"

The small girl shrugged. "You would be a waste of pawns if you died this early."

"Besides," said Akeno, who was returning from the kitchen area, "We always help each other."

Issei hesitated for a moment. If he was being honest with himself, to have even a chance of saving Asia, he would need all the help he could get.

"Alright then, let's go."

* * *

"The system picked up an odd hike in power near some abandoned buildings, but when I checked it out, there was nothing." Sona Sitri stated. "Certainly weird, considering I didn't feel anything out of the ordinary. Nor did anyone in my peerage."

The Heiress of the Sitri Clan was currently sitting across from Rias Gremory in the Student Council room, two cups of tea on the desk.

"Neither did any of mine, at least, nothing that they've told me." Rias sighed. "Quite troubling indeed. Do you have any idea of what could have caused this?"

"No. I hope it was just a natural occurrence, but that doesn't seem very likely. I told Tsubaki to look into it further." Sona adjusted her glasses.

"Please keep me informed on any updates. I'm afraid I've been too busy with my new Pawn to be paying close attention to Kuoh. My apologies for that."

"Ah yes. Hyoudou, correct? The transfer? How are things going with that?"

"A little rough right now, but he'll come around." Rias stood up.

"Wait, one last thing."

Rias turned back. "Yes?"

"Is there any reason you requested me to tell you this in person?"

The crimson haired devil smiled. "No reason."

"I must be going now, I have a feeling the rest of my peerage will need me soon."

* * *

It wasn't a very long walk until Issei was near where he was earlier when he had first left Asia, overlooking the church. It wasn't long before Kiba spoke up.

"So, what was your plan to save her?"

It was around that moment when Issei realized he had not come up with a single good plan.

"Maybe sneak around and try to find a different way in."

They all gave him looks of bewilderment. Or just a blank stare, in Koneko's case.

"What?"

"You realize you can't get near any _humans_ without alerting them, much less Fallen Angels, right?" Akeno asked.

Oh.

Shit.

Well, that only leaves one option.

"Looks like we're going through the front, then." Issei started towards the church again, Koneko not far behind.

"So much for the element of surprise" Kiba sighed, but followed.

* * *

The large double doors to the abandoned church flew open, one almost flying off its hinges. All because of one kick from Koneko.

It was sometimes terrifying how strong this girl was.

"You didn't have to be so loud." Kiba chided.

"They already know we're here" She responded, voice as emotionless as ever.

They entered the church, there were no lights but all four could see fine, on account of being devils.

"So, we meet again, devil scum." Freed was standing next to the altar, the gun and sword hilt Issei was all too familiar with in his hands.

"You brought the little girl with you again. That's great! And… Oh, you two are new."

"Kiba Yuuto, nice to meet you" Kiba smiled politely. He raised a sword - where the hell did he get that - and got into a lax fighting stance.

"If there is one thing I won't allow, it's devils waltzing into the House of God-" The priest was cut off when a bench came flying at him that he narrowly dodged, courtesy of Koneko.

He grinned. "Pretty strong, for a runt."

"Shut up."

"Freed, what is- oh." A blue haired woman appeared from a door behind where Freed was standing.

"Kalawarner! How nice of you to join us, I was just about to slice up some devils. Though… Aren't you supposed to be helping out down there?"

"Raynare kicked me out, said she needs peace." Just the name caused several different emotions to stir up inside of Issei.

"No matter though, this looks like much more fun."

A light spear formed in her hand.

 **[BOOST]**

Issei summoned his Sacred Gear.

Kalawarner flung her light spear at Akeno, and the battle began.

* * *

Akeno and Kalawarner took to the air, while Issei, Kiba, and Koneko focused on Freed.

 **[BOOST]**

Well they were more so focused on not getting skewered by stray light spears and lightning bolts from the battle that raged on above them.

Freed dodged a small fireball and another bench before he lunged at Kiba.

Their two swords clashed together. Though, instead of breaking apart and swinging again, Kiba's sword turned black and started _absorbing_ the light from Freed's sword.

"What the hell?"

"It's the Holy Eraser." He grunted, struggling to hold Freed back.

Sensing the opportunity, Issei darted toward the door Kalawarner had came from.

* * *

Rias Gremory stood on a path surrounded by trees. Though her stance was casual, her eyes were calculating, staring straight at two others.

Standing across from her was a young looking girl and a man, each with a pair of pitch black feathered wings.

"I truly wish we hadn't met again, Gremory." The man spoke. "You should have told your servants to stay out of our business."

"Now we have to kill them… and you." A light spear formed in the hands of the younger one.

* * *

The door lead to stairs heading down.

Against the back wall of the basement room was a large cross, with a unconscious girl chained to it.

"Asia!" Issei ran to her.

"She can't hear you, you know."

The voice behind him sent chills down his spine. If he was being honest with himself, if it wasn't for the threat of a light spear to the back, he wouldn't have wanted to turn and face her.

 _Excuse me, are you Issei Hyoudou?_

He turned, and came face to face with her.

She didn't look the same from their date. It was as if she had aged five years since the last time he saw her.

"Do you like the new look? Couldn't bear to stay as the innocent little girl for that long."

But it was still her, without a doubt.

"Asia's been unconscious for quite some time." The Fallen continued. "It's easier that way... Anyway, you deserve a reward for making it this far. How about I let you keep the body after I kill her?"

Like hell.

Issei charged.

Raynare laughed at the effort, easily sidestepping him and shoving a light spear through his thigh.

Just like that, Issei was reminded of how painful her spears are.

 _Will you go out with me?_

"I wonder if killing you again will be as fun as the first time…?"

The helpless feeling began to sink into him again. He'd gotten stronger, but it didn't matter.

 _There is one more thing I'd like for you to do, to commemorate the date…_

 **[BOOST]**

"I don't think so. You expect it this time, seeing the shock and betrayal on your face the first time was absolutely priceless."

 **[BOOST]**

 _Will you-_

 **No.**

 _ **Murder...**_

 **[BOOST]**

Issei felt something _snap_ in him.

 **[BOOST]**

A black aura exploded around him, not unlike what happens during the Boosted Gear's Explosion. His effect got far stronger as well, rooting the Fallen Angel in place.

 **[Hyoudou-]**

Paying no mind to the dragon, he lunged, and his fist collided with a very unsuspecting Raynare.

* * *

Raynare smashed into the far back wall.

Bringing herself back to her senses, she hurled a light spear at the advancing Issei.

It flickered out of existence when it got within ten feet of him.

"What the _hell?_ " She threw another one, this one far larger, it shattered against the gauntlet on the devil's arm.

 **[Explosion]**

He shot forward, delivering an uppercut to Raynare's jaw, sending her careening back into the wall.

He didn't need- no, he didn't _want_ to use fire for this.

 _ **Kill...**_

Raynare didn't know how he was he even able to stand.

She growled.

 _"Enough of this!"_

She aimed a kick of her own at him, catching him in the side, making him stumble back.

Perfect, that was all she needed.

Issei had to dive behind a table to avoid being skewered by multiple light spears.

 _ **Torture...**_

Raynare tried to flee. She launched herself into the air with her wings. She would smash through the wall if she had to, she-

Something grabbed her foot. Raynare looked down to see it wasn't Issei's hand, or even the gauntlet.

 _Is that… a shadow?_

She was able to free herself from it, but the flailing motion caused her to lose her balance in the air. Her back hit the stone floor again.

When she got up, Issei was in front of her.

He drove his knee into her abdomen, knocking all the wind out of her body. And struck her in the head with a gauntlet clad fist.

 _ **Hatred...**_

A cry of pain suddenly rang out.

Issei turned around to see something bright being ripped out of Asia's chest.

He bolted for her immediately.

* * *

His gauntlet clad hand was able to rip away the chains holding her to the cross with ease, and Asia's motionless form fell into his arms.

"No…"

Issei carried her in his arms for a few feet, laying her down onto the floor once they were away from the cross.

"I'm... sorry, Asia." His tears started to fall onto her white dress.

"It's… no use," Raynare said in between coughing out blood. "The ritual is complete. She's dead."

The things that had been ripped from her chest were now floating in front of him.

They were two silver rings.

Slowly, Issei reached out and grabbed them, placing them in Asia's hands.

He turned back to Raynare, pure hatred in his eyes and started walking towards her.

* * *

Raynare's fell to the stone floor yet again, courtesy of a strike from Issei.

"Please…"

He crouched down and grabbed her by the hair, pulling her face just inches away from his.

She couldn't even recognize him anymore.

This was not the awkward boy who took her on a date.

"You know that fear, that feeling like you're _completely powerless_ to change what's going to happen to you? I felt that because of you once, Asia too, I'm sure."

"S-stop…"

"I'm going to make you feel the same thing we felt."

"Please..."

"I just have one question for you, Raynare." He pulled harder.

"W-what…?"

" _Will you die for me?"_

* * *

Two dead Fallen Angels and a few minutes later, Rias arrived at the abandoned church.

Entering it revealed another dead Fallen, this one blue haired.

She expected that. One Fallen Angel was no match for her servants, however inexperienced one is.

It also revealed the priest from two days ago escaping via a teleportation card, probably made for him by one of the Fallen.

Oh, well. They would deal with that later.

There were more pressing matters at hand anyway. Like Issei.

He wasn't with them.

She saw the door to the Church basement hanging open, she could guess where he went, and who was down there with him.

What she couldn't have guessed was what was happening down there.

There was the lifeless body of a girl, the clothes determining it was the Nun he had wanted to rescue.

Rias understood why he would do this, nobody deserved that.

It felt like she had a Sacred Gear.

When she saw Issei, she was shocked.

He was…

She didn't know if fighting was the right word, considering the Fallen Angel he was attacking wasn't putting up much of a defense.

Raynare had put her hand up in a futile attempt to stop his advance. He grabbed her forefinger and bent it back far enough for the Fallen to feel her finger nail on the back of her hand.

A howl of pain was released.

No, this wasn't a fight.

He was _torturing_ her.

There was an odd, dark aura surrounding him.

"ISSEI"

He turned and faded, unfocused eyes looked back at her own.

"R-Rias...?"

 **[Reset]**

Issei collapsed, unconscious.

* * *

 **The true AU part begins.**

 **Ddraig was said to have 'flames capable of incinerating anything in its path'. I'm not sure why that didn't carry over to his Sacred Gear right away. Granted, I'm sure (hoping) it was explained at some point in the Light Novels, but I stopped reading them at some point out of laziness.**

 **Vali will also have Albion's poison.**


	5. Chapter 4

" **... Flames don't become stronger they are from the beginning Flames that could erase Gods and God-Class beings in an instant or in seconds. So your way is not logical."**

 **Those are Ddraig's flames. Issei's will be only a fraction of that for the foreseeable future (like all of his abilities compared to Ddraig)**

 **I added a little bit to the end of the last chapter, because i realized how bare it was. I'd recommend checking out the last part of it.**

* * *

Rias Gremory, sitting at her desk in the Occult Research Club room, trying her best not to freak out, could only think of one thing.

 _Those shadows..._

She had heard stories of a power that gave the user control of the shadows, along with a frightening aura. It was so rare that she had not even thought of it when she came across Issei. Especially since the last user anyone had heard of was well over a century ago.

Though it had been far longer than that since there was a user capable of handling the power for more than a few minutes before going completely insane.

No wonder she couldn't find it in the main Sacred Gear books, none of them included it. So little was known about it that it was disputed in the supernatural community whether it was a Sacred Gear or not.

None of this boded well for Issei Hyoudou.

One of the first few recorded - and by far the strongest - user had killed a lot of devil's in it's time. Several of the Pillar families would want Issei's head. For crimes he did not commit.

She knew she should call her brother and get help. That would by far be the best course of action. But she refused to.

Let it be known that Rias Gremory, for all her kindness and empathy, was still a devil. A very young, high class devil. As such, she was insanely prideful.

In the end, she decided she would decide what to do next based on Issei's state when he wakes up.

* * *

Once again, Issei found himself waking up on a couch. He didn't have to look around to know he was in the clubroom again.

 _Ddraig?_

 **[You're awake.]**

 _Yeah… What happened?_

 **[Do you not remember?]**

 _Clearly not._

 **[You were torturing the Fallen Angel before you collapsed. You appear to have a new power.]**

 _What was it?_

 **[I do not know.]**

 _How could you not know? Haven't you seen all of these before?_

 **[Not this one.]**

 _How is that-_

 **[Because it is not of the Boosted Gear. You appear to have a seperate power entirely, Hyoudou.]**

 _Is that even possible?_

 **[In theory, yes. It is best if you talk to Gremory about it further.]**

Memories from the night flooded back into Issei's mind.

He shot up.

Thankfully, there wasn't any pain in his side this time when he stood up.

He took a few steps, and a splitting headache made itself known, the effect of it almost knocking him off his feet. He put his hand on the wall to steady himself.

When he got to the door and opened it, Rias wasn't the only one there this time. The entire Occult Research Club were there with her. They were all enjoying tea.

With someone else.

"Asia!"

* * *

Asia Argento barely had time to stand up before she was engulfed in a hug.

"You're alive!... How are you alive?" He asked.

"Rias brought me back." Her response was muffled by Issei's shirt. There was a heavy blush on her face that Issei could not see.

It was then when it fully dawned on the brown haired devil that _everyone else_ was there. He released Asia immediately and took a step back.

Akeno giggled.

Rias cleared her throat. She sat at her desk, a book open in front of her. "Seeing how she has Twilight Healing, I figured she would make a good addition."

Her words would have annoyed Issei just yesterday, but right now he was too happy about Asia being alive for a negative thought of any kind.

"Now, I believe one of my regulars is expecting me." Kiba said.

"Ditto" Koneko spoke up.

They were both gone a moment later.

Rias didn't acknowledge their departure. Rather, she turned to her Queen. "Akeno, could you please help Asia with her schedule?"

"Of course," Said Queen replied with a smile.

Issei and Rias were now alone.

In the back of his mind, Issei wondered if she had planned that.

"We were all very worried when you collapsed after your… fight." Rias still didn't think that was the right thing to call it.

That made Issei remember. He was so distracted that he had completely forgotten about the biggest part of last night. "Raynare… What happened to her?" He asked.

"I eliminated her. Honestly, I think it was mercy, considering what she was going through."

"Oh."

"Are you okay with that?"

The brunette didn't answer for a moment.

"Yes. She had to be killed." He would be lying if he said he didn't wish that he was the one to do it.

Rias didn't look like she quite believed him. "Good. Now that we're alone, I need to talk to you about a few things."

"Okay..." Issei wasn't entirely sure he liked where this was going.

"Now that Asia is a devil, she will need a more permanent place to stay. When I asked her about where she would like to live, her first idea was with you. Would you be okay with that?"

"Of course. Just let me call my parents-"

"No need. I can take care of it." She gave him that smile that never failed to make him uneasy. Though he was more concerned about what she had said before that.

"Wait... did you say I was the first person that she thought of?"

"Yes. It seems you've made quite the impression on her in your short time together. She really appreciated you coming to save her."

Issei looked away, a slight blush on his face. "The others did more than me…"

"Maybe so, but they would not have even been there if it wasn't for you."

"Speaking of that," Issei said, happy to change the subject. "What exactly happened at the end? It's all pretty fuzzy after Asia… you know,"

Rias's face darkened.

"Issei… I'm sure you're aware of the effect you have on people."

Issei didn't respond verbally.

"I think I know why now."

"You do?" The brunette devil couldn't hide his eagerness.

"Yes." She sighed. "It's been called many names throughout history, but the one that seemed to stick is Corrupt Eternity. You seem to be the most likely candidate for the latest user. The 'Infinite Void of Ruin' is the source of your frightening aura, Issei. Or was, rather."

 **[That makes sense.]**

 _You've heard of this too, Ddraig?_

 **[Just by name. One of my hosts has never come into contact with it, thankfully.]**

Issei was going to ask the dragon what he meant but the crimson haired devil began talking again.

"I wish I could be certain before telling you all of this, but until you try to use it further, there isn't much I can do. Corrupt Eternity manifests itself in different ways, and there aren't even many to compare you to in the first place."

"Why not?"

"Because, Issei, most who have this power don't survive nearly as long as you have. Most go insane almost directly after using it for the first time, going on a rampage before eventually being put down.'

Upon seeing his startled expression, Rias continued in a futile attempt to calm her Pawn down. "But that isn't all of them, and you have already proved to be different. For now, we should remain optimistic."

 **[Foolish.]**

Issei chose not to answer the dragon.

"Wait, why did you mean by it 'was' the source of the aura?"

Rias smirked. "Don't tell me you didn't notice that nobody was affected by you when you walked in."

Issei's eyes slightly widened. "You mean…"

"Yes. It seems that your aura is gone. For now, at least. You should be able to have a more normal school life going forward.

Now, I want you to go home and get some rest. We'll discuss this more later." She said, right back to her normal demeanor.

Issei would be more than happy to oblige that request. He opened the door, before stopping and turning back to his 'Master'.

"Rias?" He called.

"Yes?"

"Thank you, for saving Asia." _After I failed._

"Don't worry about it Issei… Oh! And one more thing." The Pawn looked back at her. "I wanted to say I'm sorry for- "

Issei cut her off with a hand. Rias, temporarily stunned by the action, actually stopped talking.

He sighed. "I don't want an apology, Rias."

Her response of "What do you want then?" died on her tongue when he closed the door.

* * *

On a tree outside of the old school building, a red and yellow bird was perched, piercing blue eyes staring into the room from a window.

Once Issei had left, it flew away.

* * *

Rias sighed as she sat down at her desk.

There would be even more problems for Issei Hyoudou as a devil going forward, ones that Rias had failed to warn him of.

The most well known wielder of Corrupt Eternity was from the Great War period. It executed thousands of Devils, Angels, and Fallen Angels in its time. It had to be responsible for wiping out at least three of the Pillar families single handedly.

The rest of the surviving devil families will not look favorably on Issei Hyoudou.

And she had no idea how to prepare for that.

* * *

Of all the things to happen on his way home, Ddraig talking to him wasn't one that Issei expected.

 **[Are you sure about this, Hyoudou?]**

 _Sure about what?_

 **[Letting this girl close to the people you care about.]**

 _Yes... Why wouldn't i be?_

 **[This wouldn't be the first time the Church used an innocent looking nun to kill someone.]**

 _Asia wouldn't do that._

 **[I'm sure you thought the same thing about the Fallen Angel. Tell me, how did that turn out?]**

Issei ground his teeth in an attempt to stop the anger.

 _This is different._

 **[How so?]**

 _Asia saved my life by jumping in front of Freed. She put herself in danger for me. Why would she do that if the end goal is to kill me?_

 **[It could have been an act for this very purpose. She might also need information on your Master. There are countless explanations.]**

 _You aren't changing my mind on this. Asia is a good person._

 **[I am aware. You throw all logic out when you get attached to someone. For someone so recently murdered for trusting someone you knew nothing about, you seem eager to let it happen again.]**

Issei did not respond.

* * *

A surprisingly mundane life carried on for the next few weeks, even with a new person he still barely knew in his house. Issei was focused on recovering for the first few days, but after that he returned to the same routine he had since becoming a devil.

Though now he had Asia with him to hand out flyers. Despite his aura being under control now, she still had much more success approaching people than he did.

Thankfully, his parents were receptive to Asia right away, they had always wanted a girl anyway, so he supposed that wasn't surprising.

As had become normal recently, he and Asia were preparing to hand out flyers in the hopes of getting contracts.

In the few short weeks since becoming a devil, Asia had already passed Issei in contracts.

"We're going to hand out flyers now." Issei announced as he handed a bag of flyers over to Asia, keeping one for himself.

"Actually Issei," Rias said. "I think you'll be glad to hear that your days of handing out flyers are over."

"Really?"

"Yes. I think you have a good enough idea of how the job works. And handing out flyers is usually the role of a familiar anyway."

"What's a familiar?"


	6. Chapter 5

" _Would you die for me?"_

A flash of light.

A scream.

A bed creaked in protest.

Shallow, ragged breathing filled the once silent room.

In what was frustratingly still a common occurance, Issei Hyoudou woke up covered in sweat. And terrified of someone who didn't exist anymore.

 _Again…? Why does this keep happening? I thought after she died…_

 **[You haven't moved on.]**

 _What?_

 **[From what caused you to become a devil. She will continue to haunt you until you find closure.]**

 _I don't suppose you have any ideas on how I can do that._

 **[Inner peace can only be found by yourself.]**

 _I was asking for advice, not a proverb… Why does it even matter to you anyway?_

 **[My consciousness resides within you, Hyoudou. I also see your terrors. It gets rather annoying after a while.]**

 _Of course. Can't be thinking you actually care._

There was a brief moment of silence inside his mind.

 _By the way, what do you think of this 'Corrupt Eternity'?_

 **[If it can be used to compliment the Boosted Gears abilities, then it should prove beneficial. Past that, I do not care.]**

Issei didn't know what he expected from the dragon. It was probably something along those lines.

"Issei? Are you okay?"

The brunettes head jerked over to his door, only to see emerald green eyes filled with concern staring back at him.

"Asia?"

He was still getting used to her living with him.

"I heard a noise, and then your..."

"Oh, it's nothing. I'm fine, thanks."

"Okay. Well, breakfast is almost ready so come down soon. We have a very important day today! I'm so happy your mom is teaching me how to cook." She said, the last part more to herself than to him as she turned around and left the room.

Issei didn't know what exactly Rias had done to convince his parents to let Asia stay with them, but it had led to his mom teaching Asia how to cook, clean, and complete other various tasks around the house.

He was more focused on what she said before that.

He was not sure why today was important.

* * *

" _What's a Familiar?"_

" _Familiars are creatures that perform various tasks for us Devils, from gathering information to handing out contract flyers to even combat purposes. It's a basic requirement for new devils to get one. This, is my familiar." As Rias finished her sentence, a bat like creature appeared, hovering above her shoulder._

 _It looked familiar to him, somehow._

 _His hunch was confirmed when the bat transformed in front of him and turned into a girl with short black hair wearing a red and white dress. Yeah, s_ _he was definitely someone that he had seen before._

" _You're the girl that gave me the flyer…"_

" _Is she? Interesting..." Rias commented._

 _In the back of his mind, Issei wondered why that was interesting._

 _Before he could ponder that further, his attention was put back onto the Familiar._ _The girl had disappeared just as quickly as she appeared. The small bat creature was once again flying behind Rias's shoulder._

" _Of course, I have one as well." Akeno said as an imp appeared on the floor next to her._

 _Not long after that, they were joined by a white bird and cat, belonging to Kiba and Koneko, respectively._

 _While Asia gushed over how cute the familiars were, Issei turned to Rias._

" _How do we get a familiar?"_

* * *

The school day was an interesting experience for Issei Hyoudou, to say the least.

First, there was no recoil or sudden stiffness when he walked into the classroom, which he had come to expect from everyone in the room except for Asia, the only friend he had in the class.

He expected that part though, with the effect being gone.

What he didn't expect is what else transpired throughout the school day.

Second, throughout the whole day, he was treated… like everyone else, for lack of a better term.

No glances of disdain or fear, no attempts to stay as far away from him as possible, the teacher even called on him a few times. They just treated him like any other student, like he was...

Normal. Completely normal.

It was difficult not to smile to himself all the time.

Not difficult enough, because something still nagged at him.

All of them had treated him like the plague for weeks, and now everything was fine? Wouldn't they question why it suddenly didn't feel weird to be around him? Why were they acting as if they... Oh.

Rias had mentioned that she would do something about his class situation, but he didn't expect this. He didn't expect for her to change the memory of an entire class and probably a lot more not in his class.

Moments like these were when he was reminded just how terrifying Rias Gremory could be.

In the end, he decided the less he thought about it, the better it would be.

The less scared of his master he would be, anyway.

* * *

If only he could actually get his brain to think less about it, he'd be able to follow through with that idea. His thoughts still revolved around the school day during his walk to the Old School Building.

Usually Asia would be there to drag him out of his thoughts, but she was talking to Kiryuu after school, so Issei elected to head over alone.

Asia had been talking to Kiryuu more and more lately, now that he thought about it. He hoped that she didn't change Asia too much.

* * *

When Issei got to the clubroom, he was surprised to find it completely empty.

Usually at least two of the club members were present by the time Issei arrived. Seeing it empty was an odd sight for the new Devil.

"Oh, hello."

He turned around. "Akeno?"

"Good afternoon." She smiled. As if sensing what his next question would be, she spoke again. "Rias is gone preparing for the Familiar trip. _It's just us for now._ " He could have sworn he heard her tone change in the last sentence.

He had to be just imagining it, right?

"Um, okay…"

"Ara, you don't have a problem with that, do you?"

She was right next to him now. It was as if she was enjoying his discomfort. Basking in it, almost.

She probably was.

"N-no, of course not."

Akeno giggled.

She leaned in closer to him. Too close.

Instinctively, Issei backed up, until he backed up into one of the couches. Akeno followed him.

"Issei, I-" Emerald eyes looked at the situation in confusion.

"Asia! It's not what it looks like!"

He looked over at Asia, who was doing a very poor job of hiding her discontent with the situation she walked into, and then back to Akeno, who had moved even closer to the point that their noses were nearly touching.

He stared straight into violet eyes and a beautiful face framed by long black hair.

The last time he saw a face like that…

 _Would you die for me?_

Issei jerked away from Akeno, fear seeping into his eyes.

Both girls present suddenly went rigid for a few seconds. Even if he hadn't felt it himself, Issei would have known that it was his effect on others showing up again.

Does this mean it isn't fully gone? But it was supposed to be.

Right?

"Akeno, I-"

" _What_ exactly is going on in here?"

That was how they learned Rias had returned.

* * *

After Rias ensured that they would tell her what was happening when she arrived later, they headed out to the forest.

Though headed out wasn't the right phrasing, considering the travel was instantaneous.

Issei blinked. Once.

Instead of the school building, they were in a dark forest.

What the hell.

"This is the Familiar Forest." Rias announced.

"Where do we go from here?" Issei asked.

"We have to wait for the Familiar Master-"

"You called?" A new voice asked.

Every head turned to the forest clearing, where a man was standing.

Saying that the man looked odd would be like saying Ddraig was a lizard.

"If you're looking for Familiars, you've come to the right place."

Absentmindedly, Issei thought he looked similar to a character from a show he had watched as a child.

The Familiar Master informed them about every different kind of Familiar in the forest as he led them down the path. Or at least that's what Issei thought he did, because he wasn't paying very good attention to the man. Rather, he was looking at the trees, his mind still focused on what happened with Akeno.

He needed to apologize to her. And Asia, for that matter.

Nobody should have to feel _that._

Not paying attention had caused him to fall behind the rest of the group.

"Issei."

His head snapped forward to see that Rias had slowed down and was now next to him.

"Oh. Sorry."

"Still thinking about what happened in the clubroom?"

Most likely for a completely different reason than she was imagining, but still, he supposed she was right.

"You'll have to forgive Akeno for her behavior from earlier. She's a bit of a tease."

"Oh, it's no problem." He quickly replied.

A small smile played on Rias's face. "I'm sure it isn't."

"I didn't mean it like that-"

Rias chuckled. "I know you didn't, Issei. I was just joking."

A silence fell between them for a minute.

"Rias?"

"Yes?"

"Do you know how the effect came back for a few seconds back there?"

"I was wondering about that." Her face changed into one deep in thought. "The only reason I can think of is that it was reactivated by an extreme influx of emotions. A lot of Sacred Gears are fueled by emotions, after all."

That made sense to him. He's just got to keep his emotions in check, and he'll be fine.

Easier said than done.

"Issei?" Rias asked, bringing him out of his thoughts.

"Yeah?"

"If you don't mind me asking, what caused that to happen? What emotion were you feeling?"

"Uh..."

A squeal distracted both of them and saved Issei from having to answer. They both started walking forward at a quickened pace to see what was going on.

When he got there, he saw Asia crouching near a blue dragon.

"It's so cute!"

Issei didn't know if 'cute' was the best word to describe it. The thing looked pretty menacing.

Especially when it was glaring daggers at him.

"I think it senses him." Rias told Issei.

"What do you mean?"

"The Red Dragon. It senses Ddraig. Other dragons can feel his aura. The dragon is scared of you, and will probably be rather hostile. I wouldn't go near him if I were you."

"Wasn't planning on it…" Issei said, before something to his right caught his attention.

"Ah, a sprite dragon. Yes, very… cute. Though they are known to be quite aggressive, even uncontrollable if not tamed early on in their development." The Familiar Master added.

"I think I'll call him Rassei."

Nobody present commented on how familiar the name was.

"So, that's one Familiar down, now we only have one left- Issei?" Rias looked back down the trail.

The teen wasn't facing them. His attention was taken by something else from the trees that he was looking at.

* * *

A small gray dragon was staring back at Issei.

The brown haired devil took a step towards it, and the dragon, despite looking skeptical, didn't move.

He took another. And another.

Soon, he was crouching in front of the dragon.

Issei slowly moved a hand out, and petted the dragon's head. The dragon looked hesitant at first, evidently trying to see if the devil was a threat or not.

Seemingly deciding it wasn't, the dragon nuzzled into Issei's hand.

"I think it likes you."

Issei looked over his shoulder to see Rias and Asia looking at him and the familiar, who was now licking his hand.

"A female sprite. Much more passive. Probably better for you." The Familiar Master said, looking over at Rassei, who was still glaring at everyone that wasn't Asia.

"Have you made your choice, Issei?" Rias asked.

"Yeah, I think I have."

Issei picked the dragon up into his hands.

"Any idea for what you want to name her?"

Said Familiar sneezed, and shocked Issei. Not enough to cause the devil serious pain of any kind, but enough to show that she is definitely a sprite dragon.

"I was thinking Storm would be a good name."

* * *

 **I want to use Familiars more in this story than in canon. Whether I can actually find a place to fit them into the story, that remains to be seen.**


	7. Chapter 6

In the time since being chosen, Asia's familiar had warmed up a little to the rest of the club.

Except for Issei.

Despite doing all he could to be nice to the new dragon, it still acted hostile towards him.

A couple other members of the Occult Research Club had brought their familiars out, though they had little interaction with each other, mostly because Koneko's cat seemed content sitting in its masters lap and Rassei still didn't seem to like anyone that much besides Asia.

After another series of failed attempts to win over the new familiar, Issei had given up and went over to where Rias was to talk to her for a few minutes.

"Asia seems happy." He commented.

"Yes, it's as if she has gotten a new pet." Rias agreed.

She has, in many ways.

Issei looked over at said familiar, who Asia was still gushing over.

"Why do you think he hates me?"

"I think he senses your Gear." Rias told him.

"What do you mean?"

"The Red Dragon. It senses Ddraig. Other dragons can feel his aura. 'Rassei' sees you as a threat, and will probably be defensive for a while. I would stay away from him for the time being if I were you."

"I'll keep that in mind, but he looks like he's okay now."

"Asia seems to have calmed him down. For whatever reason, he's not aggressive when he's around her."

Issei felt it too. The former nun just had a calming atmosphere around her.

So far, he's only noticed it with himself and the familiar. He wondered why that was.

"Speaking of that," She continued. "Why don't you have yours here?"

He looked back over the the crimson haired girl next to him.

"She wasn't in the best of shape when I found her. I figured it'd be best to let her rest for a while."

"Yes, of course. That makes sense…" She responded.

Issei looked at her oddly. Something was off.

Rias looked like she was holding herself back from saying something.

"Rias?"

"Yeah?" She asked, louder than necessary. Had the others not been preoccupied with their familiars, they probably would have been alerted.

"Is something bothering you?"

"No, I just… Can I ask you a question, Issei?"

"Sure."

"What do you think about love?" She blurted out.

"Uh…"

 _What the hell?_

Issei didn't really knew what he was expecting her to ask, but it wasn't that.

"You don't have to answer it if you don't want to."

"No, I… I think it sounds pretty nice." He finally stammered out.

"Yes, pretty nice…" Rias repeated, eyes towards the floor.

"Much better than…" Issei trailed off, mind filled with unwanted images of dark hair and even darker wings.

"Than what?"

Issei shook his head. "Never mind. It's nothing."

He smiled while saying that, something she assumed was intended to be reassuring.

Instead, it just looked like the saddest thing she had ever seen.

"Oh." She said, quietly. "Okay."

* * *

Rias's question bounced around Issei's head for most of the day, any other thoughts eventually being pushed to the side as his mind kept going around in circles, beginning and ending with what she had asked him.

Hours later, he was still thinking about it.

All Issei was really hoping for at this point was a quiet end to his night.

That wish died almost instantly when a red circle lit up on the floor besides his bed.

Why is the world so cruel to him sometimes? One night wasn't too much to ask, was it?

Issei relaxed when he saw it was only Rias. But there was still something about her that was off.

"Rias, wha-"

"I need you to take my virginity."

Issei blinked once. Twice.

"..." He found that he lacked the ability to formulate a sentence.

 _WhatthefuckWhatthefuckWhatthefuckWhatthefuckWhatthefuckWhatthefuck-_

Rias was already taking her skirt off. She climbed onto his bed.

"Hurry up, we don't have much time."

"Rias, we-"

" _Issei._ " She cut him off, impatience starting to creep into her voice. "This isn't that difficult. Just do what you're told."

She started fumbling with his clothes next, completely ignoring his attempts to figure out what exactly brought this on.

A noise outside his room made Issei keenly aware of the three others in the house. Especially Asia.

If she were to investigate a noise or the magical presence from the transportation circle in his room was and stumbled upon this...

The brunette devil didn't even want to think about what her reaction would be.

Rias pulled his shirt slightly up, exposing part of his stomach.

His hands flew to her wrists and caught them in a firm grasp, surprising the heiress. As well as himself, if he was being honest.

"Rias," He said, voice little more than a whisper in fear of alerting someone else in the house. "We can't do this."

His actions seem to have a bit of an effect on the princess. Her eyes slowly came into focus on him, as if she was just now realizing the extent of her actions.

"Issei..." She said, voice barely audible. "You're right, I-"

Light shone in the dark room once again as another magic circle lit the floor, this one a more gray color.

"Really, Rias, I knew you were desperate, but not this much." A new voice said.

Rias shook her head. "I was too late."

The two teens were joined by a beautiful gray haired woman. She stepped forward, and Issei was surprised to see she was wearing a maid outfit.

The woman paid him no attention. She was busy staring at Rias with a disappointed look.

"Sirzechs will be disappointed in you." The new woman noted, voice matching her face; completely void of emotion.

 _Who is that?_

"I don't care what he thinks." Rias shot back. "I am free to do what I please. You know this, Grayfia, yet you still came here to interrupt me.

"I came here to prevent you from making a mistake."

"I'm not making one."

"Could you guys keep it down?" Issei asked in a hushed tone. His eyes frantically looked over to the door.

Grayfia looked at him for the first time. out of the corner of her eye It was only for a moment, but Issei had to fight not shiver.

She said nothing to him, and turned her attention back to Rias.

"Duly noted." She bent over to pick up Rias's discarded skirt and took another few steps to the heiress, handing it to her. Rias snatched it out of her hands. "Still though, for it to be with him… You are the next head of the House of Gremory. Try to have some respect for yourself."

Grayfia turned to Issei and addressed him. "My apologies for the intrusion. My name is Grayfia, I am in service of the Gremory family. We will be leaving shortly."

 _Didn't she just insult me? What's with the formal introduction..._

Grayfia went back to ignoring Issei, either not expecting or not caring for a response.

Rias, now fully clothed again, turned back to her newest servant.

"I'm so sorry for this, Issei. I haven't been in my right mind today."

"Issei?" Grayfia now looked at the brunette devil with a hint of interest on her features. "The one who possesses the Boosted Gear is this boy?"

Back to the thinly veiled insults. If he wasn't so overwhelmed, Issei would've been slightly upset.

"Yes, this is my new pawn. We will talk further at the clubroom."

They both disappeared into a magic circle, leaving a very confused Issei behind.

He wouldn't be getting much sleep tonight.

* * *

It took Asia entering Issei's room three times to get him up the next day.

After a quick breakfast, an obligatory scolding from his mother (which was hard for her, as she couldn't be happier with the current Asia situation), and Asia assuring her it was no issue, the two devils took off for school.

On the way there, Issei barely paid attention to what Asia was saying, he was too busy wondering how Rias would act after what happened.

Rias had seemingly decided that pretending last night didn't happen was the right way to go, which only made the awkwardness that much worse.

Everyone else in the club noticed the differences, but none of them said anything. Out of kindness or not having a clue about what was different, Issei didn't know. He was thankful nonetheless.

He was about to ask if he could leave when he saw magic circle appear out of the corner of his eye.

A moment later, it felt like the entire room was filled with flames.

"I've returned, my dear Rias." A voice rang out.

* * *

Issei didn't know what to think, to be honest.

He was still in the Occult Research Club room, but he was now joined by several others, all not a part of the club.

He was standing by most of the other club members, all of whom - except Asia, who was just as confused as him - were sending totally-not-glares at the new people.

Namely Riser Phoenix, third heir to the Phoenix clan, one of the few Pillar families left.

More importantly, Rias's fiancé.

Judging by the look that had been on his Kings face since he arrived, she wasn't a willing participant in the engagement.

Riser had immediately sat down next to her, and was busy running his hands through her hair, up and down her arm, her leg, basically wherever he could grab.

Behind Riser and Rias, on the other side of the room, were Riser's own set of evil pieces. Fourteen of them, all female, all insanely cute.

They were all giving mocking smiles to Issei and the rest of the club. It was starting to get on the brunette devil's nerves.

"What are you doing here Riser? I thought that Sirzechs told you to stop 'visiting' me." She finally asked, face still looked like she was about to vomit at any moment.

"He merely said that I couldn't show up without telling you and him. Which I did do, in case you forgot." He said, motioning over to Grayfia, who stood silently off to the side.

Issei had barely noticed when she arrived slightly after Riser.

"And I don't see what the issue is. I'm just making sure that this place is good enough for my fiancée. While I do detest that you would come to live here, the least I could do is make sure it isn't as horrid as most of the Overworld."

"Please," Rias snorted. "If you want to keep tabs on me, at least come up with a better excuse."

Riser chuckled, not responding to her question.

"You." He looked over to Akeno, who was standing over by Rias instead of by the rest of her pieces. "Bring me some tea, will you? I've been dying to try some."

The arrogance radiated off of every word.

Akeno gave him a half glare, but still went to the kitchen area.

Scratch that, Issei knew what to think now. He _really_ didn't like this guy.

When Akeno returned with the tea, she left it on the table in front of Riser. Moving away from him as quickly as a proper walk would allow her to.

He took a sip.

"Delicious" He smirked. "As expected of my Rias's Queen."

This was really starting to piss him-

"Issei," Asia whispered.

The brunette devil looked over to see the rest of the club were all looking at him with worry.

And a bit of fear.

He had almost forgotten what that was like.

"What?"

"Your effect, it's back." Kiba responded. "Can you stop it?"

 _What…. How is it back?_

 **[I imagine it is because your emotions are flaring up. Control yourself, Hyoudou. The bird is far too powerful for you to beat right now.]**

Almost on cue, the target of his ire turned his head to look at him. "Hm, this one is new. Are you trying to intimidate me with that aura, boy?"

Issei said nothing. He couldn't even hide his glare now.

Riser chuckled again. "You really should keep your servants under control, Rias, before someone not as forgiving as I am puts them down."

"Enough!" Rias exclaimed. She stood up and took a step away from her fiancée. "What part of 'I have no intention to marry you' do you not understand?"

"My darling," He drawled, smirk not leaving his face. "You're still at this? It's been a few years now, don't you think you should accept it already? We are still trying to repopulate purebreds from the Great War, my family especially."

Issei saw Rias's eyes flick to him for a second when Riser said that.

"Besides," he continued. "I don't believe your family is in any condition to decline this marriage. They cannot afford for you to be so selfish."

"Don't bring my family into this. Their hastiness got us into this predicament anyway. Besides," Rias said, smirking for the first time since Riser arrived. "I think I can do better than a _third_ heir, don't you?"

The ever-present smirk on Riser's face was wiped off in an instant. He shot up to his feet, glaring at Rias. "How dare-"

"There is no reason for this to get hostile." Grayfia suddenly stepped in. "I am here by order of Sirzechs. He told me to ensure this stayed peaceful."

Riser looked at her, then back at Rias. "Tch, whatever."

Despite what he said, it was obvious he was shaken by what Grayfia said.

"Lord Sirzechs anticipated this would not go smoothly. He said that should communications break down and Rias stay adamant on not marrying Riser, that you two would settle it in a Rating Game."

The entire room looked shocked at this.

"Really?" Riser said, as if he was trying not to outright laugh. "I have already won three Games, while Rias has never even qualified. She is a 'Rating Game Virgin', so to speak." He said, ignoring Rias's angry expression.

He looked back over at the teenage devils. "Are these all of your servants, Rias?"

"And if they are?"

Riser couldn't hold back a chuckle this time. "Than this will be an easy victory."

"Don't underestimate us, Riser. We will annihilate you."

He smirked. "I look forward to it."

Riser joined his peerage, and after a few seconds, they were gone. Leaving flames behind them.

Grayfia told Rias she would have a few weeks to prepare for the Game before leaving to inform Sirzechs of what happened.

Nobody else, save for Rias, stayed much longer.

* * *

The next time Issei was in the clubroom was about a week later when Rias called for her entire peerage.

The crimson hair devil's had no trace of the usual friendliness on her face. It was complete seriousness when she addressed them all.

"Be prepared to leave soon. We will begin training for the Rating Game against Riser."

* * *

 **Just in case I mention it later in this story, I envision Riser as slightly younger, maybe only two or three years older than Rias, mostly because it doesn't make sense when it was implied Rias was engaged to him for a while. Even if he is only that much older, it certainly didn't come off that way, to me anyway. Granted, I never saw him given a concrete age and devils age oddly in DxD, but I assumed he was in his mid twenties. Not a big change, but it's something I suppose.**


	8. Chapter 7

Issei didn't see his fellow devils very often over the few days leading up to their departure for Rating Game training.

For the most part, this was because Rias wasn't around much, being busy with arranging the training. He had been told that most of her time was taken up by it, and the time that wasn't was taken up by school, contracts, and watching over Kuoh.

Now that he thought about it, she had a ton to do on a daily basis.

Ever since his effect had gone away, Issei had learned how to use a basic transportation circle from Akeno and gotten a few contracts. Since he no longer had to pass out flyers, he didn't have many reasons to go to the club room.

The next time they were all gathered together again was when they were nearing time to leave.

Rias was explaining that it had been decided that the Game would take place a month after it was announced, which was almost a week ago now. Leaving them three to prepare.

Issei was alternating between talking to Asia and marveling at how much Koneko could eat when a knock rang out from the large doors to the club.

A moment later, it was opened, revealing several new people, all of whom Issei didn't recognize. He thought some of them looked vaguely familiar, but he couldn't place his finger on it.

Once they all entered, Issei was able to count eight of them, all but one female.

"Oh, hello Sona. Was there something you needed?"

The one his King addressed, Sona, gave a bit of a chuckle. Next to her was another girl with similar black hair and glasses, except her hair was much longer. The rest of the group was a few steps behind them.

Ah, that's who she was. The President of the Student Counsel. That didn't explain why she came to the ORC, though.

Speaking of that, he noticed the sole male of the group not so subtly checking out every female member of the Occult Research Club.

"Since I probably won't be seeing you again until after the Rating Game, I wanted to wish you good luck. Plus, I never had the chance to meet your new servants."

She knows about the Game, then? That would mean they're all devils, too.

"Is she also a devil?" Asia asked behind him. An affirmative response from Kiba confirmed Issei's guess.

"Thank you, Sona." Rias continued. "I hope that means you'll cover for all of us here for the few weeks we'll be gone."

"Naturally."

* * *

Sona and Tsubaki, her Queen he guessed, continued with chatter that was more formal than friendly, but Issei wasn't listening to their conversation anymore. He noticed that the guy, he was pretty sure Sona had said his name was Saji, had taken the liberty of introducing himself to Asia.

The former nun was laughing, completely oblivious to his obvious flirting and ogling gaze.

He wasn't sure why, but he didn't really like this guy the second he looked at him.

The blonde devil shook her hand, and held on far longer than he needed to.

Eventually, Saji noticed him watching.

Probably understanding what was angering the brown haired devil, the Student Council member only winked at him.

"Ooh, I think you made him angry, Saji."

"I think so too, Ruruko."

* * *

Issei was doing his best not to let it bother him. He really was.

But the guy was walking towards him now and Issei felt his annoyance growing with every step.

 **[Is that you, Vritra?]**

 _What?_

 **[One of the five Dragon Kings. As well as the probable reason for your aversion to the boy.]**

"Hyoudou, was it? You're the new pawn, aren't you?" He asked.

"Yeah…"

Saji looked him up and down. And snorted.

"Well, I guess not every pawn can be like me. I took four pieces to reincarnate." He said proudly.

"I took eight."

The grin faltered. "What?"

"Rias reincarnated me with eight pawns." He repeated.

" _You_ took up eight pieces? How is that even possible?"

Issei shrugged. "Don't ask me. You're right, though. I guess not every pawn can be like you."

* * *

Saji, unsurprisingly, was sulking over by the rest of Sona's peerage for the rest of the time she was there.

When the Sitri peerage had left, Rias turned to everyone.

"So then, everybody ready to leave?"

* * *

Once the familiar red glow from the transportation circle faded, Issei took in his new surroundings.

Instead of the Victorian style design of the club room, they know stood in front of a large mansion.

"I was able to secure a pretty sizeable piece of land for us to use."

Issei looked over to Rias. "Where are we, exactly?"

"The Underworld. I suppose this is your first time here. Welcome to Hell, I guess."

" _This_ is Hell?"

"Yep."

"It doesn't feel like Hell."

He heard Kiba chuckle behind him.

"What did you think Hell would feel like?" Rias asked.

Thinking about it, what generally came to mind when one would think of Hell was pretty unrealistic.

"I don't know, but not this…" He gestured to the beautiful surroundings.

"There is plenty of time to look at the scenery later. We have to unpack now." Rias said. And that was all they needed.

* * *

Issei looked around his room.

It was large. Too much so for what he needed. Or cared for, if he was being honest.

The entire mansion, in all honesty, was much larger than it needed to be. It stood four floors tall, and there were only six of them. Because of this, they could spread out a bit when picking their rooms.

Rias and Akeno were on the second floor, Koneko and Kiba on the third, and Asia and himself occupied the fourth.

* * *

The breakfast, he was pretty sure it was cooked by Akeno, was delicious.

All of the talk at the table was related to their upcoming training. What they would be doing, what they wanted to improve on, any tips the others could give, etcetera.

Issei, being too busy wolfing down the food to participate much into the conversations, mostly listened to parts of it.

"What about you, Issei?"

"Honestly, I've been curious about Corrupt Eternity. I want to figure out exactly what it can do." He heard Rias sigh after he said that.

"Perhaps we should get this out of the way now."

"Get what out of the way?"

"I don't want you using Corrupt Eternity during the Rating Game."

What.

That made no sense.

"What the hell? Why not?"

"Because you don't need to put yourself in danger trying to use it."

"We're already at a huge disadvantage! We're going to need all the help we can get, why wouldn't I use it?"

"This is final, Issei."

Issei was more confused and disappointed than anything, but shook his head and gave a "whatever" in response before heading out.

He'd try to get her to change her mind later, anyway.

* * *

Rias had explained the mansion grounds were set up with several individual training stations that catered to the strengths of each.

Issei's was mostly open area, with a few training dummies scattered about.

 **[BOOST]**

His first boost rang out, echoing in the open area. Issei felt the familiar doubling of his power course through his veins.

"What else can this thing do, Ddraig? Apart from the flames?"

He heard what sounded like a chuckle come from the dragon.

 **[I was wondering when you would ask.]**

* * *

 **[As with all Sacred Gears, the Boosted Gear is an extension of the users will.]**

Issei always found that reasoning to be stupid. But he had stopped questioning things like that ever since he became a devil. And in the very limited interactions he's had with Ddraig, he had found the dragon to be correct most of the time.

So, without hesitation, Issei closed his eyes and started to focus.

In his gauntlet clad hand, a red ball of energy, starting small but steadily increasing, started pulsing. Issei willed it to fire towards one of the dummies.

 **[DRAGON SHOT]**

Safe to say, there was nothing left of the dummy after that. Or a lot of the ground around it, for that matter. Within a few hours, all of the dummies and most of the surrounding landscape would be charred or blown to bits.

Thankfully, Rias had mentioned the training stations regenerated overnight.

* * *

One thing Issei was not prepared for was the utter _exhaustion_ he felt almost every night.

Given how important this was for her nearly eternal lifetime, Rias was taking this seriously, as one would expect, and had spent days planning the weeks of training in order to ensure her peerage didn't waste so much as a second.

Issei looked around the room. He was usually out cold from exhaustion within a few minutes of entering the room, so he had never taken that great of a look at it.

From his spot on the bed, he took in the desk in the corner, the large windows that let in a bit of moonlight.

The shadows that seemed to dance around the room.

Issei could almost hear them calling out to him. Cries that seemed to follow him everywhere where there was darkness.

 _Let's test this out, shall we?_

Even if Rias didn't want him to use it in the Game, he was still curious about this power. He had figured out so much of the Boosted Gear's abilities, it would only make sense to do the same for his other power, right?

He willed the shadows to start moving. They began to move in a circle around the room, picking up speed by the second.

Issei was glad he was relatively secluded from the others. He should be able to test this out in peace.

 _Come closer…_

Immediately, the darkness started moving closer to him. Issei strained, forcing it to come closer and closer until it was within his reach.

More shadows, these ones emerging from somewhere behind him, joined the ones he was already controlling in swirling around, until it had formed a fluctuating, transparent wall of sorts.

He started to reach his hand out.

 **[Don't.]**

Whether he would've listened to the centuries old dragon in his head or not, Issei couldn't say for sure, but it didn't matter, since it was too late for him to stop.

He felt something resembling a tug when his hand made contact with them.

A second later, pain.

Unbelievable _pain_ erupted inside of him, starting where his fingers met them and shooting up through his arm and to his head. Issei immediately pulled his arm back as hard as he could scampered back until his back was up against his bed.

The shadows had retreated back to their original locations, lurking in the corners of his room.

All that could be heard was his ragged breathing.

* * *

Issei stood about ten feet apart from Kiba. Rias stood several feet back, facing both of them.

"This duel will end either when one participant gives up or is otherwise defeated. You are both to use only the basics of your abilities. And try not to injure one another. Understand?"

They both nodded.

The second Rias signaled for them to begin, Issei summoned the Boosted Gear.

 **[BOOST]**

"Sword Birth!"

Dozens of swords ripped out of the ground at Kiba's feet.

 _What the hell?_

Issei had always assumed that Kiba had swords in a pocket dimension of something else that went against everything he knew about physics. He wasn't expecting the blonde to be able to summon them out of the ground.

No matter, though.

 **[BOOST]**

Sword clashed with gauntlet as the two teenage devils fought to overpower the other.

 **[BOOST]**

It seemed that Issei was just fast enough to block his attacks, and Kiba was just fast enough to dodge the brunette's counter blows.

Another couple of boosts later, Issei was able to push him back a few feet.

 **[DRAGON SHOT]**

The attack tore through everything in it's path, but missed the intended target, who had gotten out of the way.

Kiba seemingly came out of thin air to his left, and Issei was forced to use his wings for a large jump out of the way.

Issei held back a growl.

A moment later, several whirlwinds of flame were hurled directly at the Knight.

Kiba pulled out two new swords, each identical to the other and seemingly coated in ice.

"Flame Delete."

* * *

To the brunette devil's disbelief, Kiba didn't attempt to use his speed to get out of the way of the fire.

Instead, he simply pulled out another sword and cut through them. One slice, and the flames were gone.

Out of the corner of his eye, Issei noticed shadows under the trees around them. He could almost hear them again. Maybe it was imagination.

Maybe, if he called out to them…

 _No. Can't do that. Not again-_

Issei felt something hit him in the side. Hard.

Half a second later, he was on the ground and a sword was pressed up against his throat.

Rias called the duel over at the same time Ddraig called him a fool.

In the time he had wasted thinking about the shadows like an idiot, Kiba had appeared to his side and made him pay for getting distracted.

The Knight had the same smile on his face that had gained him the affection of most of the female population at Kuoh.

Issei was pretty sure he didn't do a very good job of hiding the frustration on his face.

 _Stupid damn grin…_

Kiba offered his hand to help him up but Issei refused it. He was barely paying attention to the Asia's words of encouragement or Rias's warnings of getting distracted during battle.

* * *

Once he had adjusted to the exhaustion, the roughly twenty days of training had passed quickly.

Before he knew it, the Rating Game was almost upon them.

Over the last couple of weeks, he had seen the strides everyone had taken. Kiba was faster, Koneko was stronger, Asia's healing was more effective, Akeno and Rias's magical attacks were far better.

Even himself. Issei's max amount of boosts were heavily increase, he found it much easier to control the fire.

Yet, he wasn't really sure if it would be enough to defeat their opponents.

The number and experience advantage was heavily in favor of their opponents, which was the main reason they got this long to train. Supposedly some of the Devils found this to be favoritism.

Riser's peerage had to be stronger than them, right? It only made sense.

Rias had mentioned that Riser assembled his peerage based on his fetishes, but there were fourteen of them, and they have to have some amount of combat ability. Riser would not have been able to win multiple Rating Game's without that.

Which meant that Issei had to do more. He had to gain power, by any means necessary.

Just then, Issei heard his door open, and a head of blonde hair peeked in.

"Asia?"

"Hi, Issei."

Was she blushing?

"Do you need anything?"

"No… not really. Just- can I stay here for a bit?"

"Sure."

* * *

"You're nervous?"

"Yes, a little." She admitted.

She sat down next to him on the bed.

"Riser's peerage looked really strong. There are so many more of them and I'm not much use in a fight…"

"I'll protect you." He said, almost reflexively.

"What?"

"I'll keep you safe during the Game. You don't have to worry. Just like I saved you back at the Church, remember?"

A small smile played across the former nuns face.

She moved then, and Issei now found her frame pressed up against his.

"Asia...?"

"Now what did Kiryuu say to do next…" She mumbled to herself.

 _Kiryuu?_

In the time since he was no longer hated and feared by the masses, Issei had gotten acquainted with most of the students in his class. Most of them initially talked to him out of pity, but it was nice regardless.

He knew they couldn't comprehend him having a supernatural effect for weeks than suddenly not anymore. He imagined they had tried to rationalize it by thinking they had shunned him for being new or something like that and now felt bad.

He didn't know any of them, save for Asia, well enough that he would be consider them friends, but he knew enough about them.

A few stuck out more than others, namely Matsuda, Motohama, and Aika Kiryuu.

He didn't know what she told Asia, but whatever it was, he was sure it probably wasn't good advice for her to take.

His thoughts about classmates came to a screeching halt when he felt Asia's lips press against his own.

It wasn't much more than a peck. She pulled back out of embarrassment a moment later, Issei was still too frozen to do anything.

"I-I'm sorry. I don't know-" She was cut off when the brunette pulled her into his arms.

"Don't be." He murmured.

* * *

On the night before the Rating Game, Issei found himself unable to sleep.

Several things, most prominent one being the Game itself, race through his mind. But that wasn't even what was troubling him the most.

Yet again, he could hear the faint cry of the shadows all around him. It followed him everywhere at this point.

He never heard them like this before. Why was it happening now, of all times, when he needed to focus?

Leaving his room to get a glass of water revealed to him that he wasn't the only one struggling to sleep, as he saw Rias Gremory out on the patio outside of the kitchen.

She turned her head to him when he opened the glass door and stepped outside.

"Can't sleep either?"

He shook his head.

"Come join me, then. I have a new idea for out strategy that I'd like to run by someone."

* * *

"So, what do you think?"

"Well, I'm not going to pretend to be much of a strategist. But if you think it will work, then we should go for it." He answered after a moment, getting an absent minded hum in response.

"You've worked really hard on this." He noted.

"Yes… But I worry it won't be enough. They have the edge in numbers, experience, and teamwork, so our only real chance is to out-wit them, and work as a team." The Heiress smiled a bit.

It was probably the saddest smile Issei had seen in his life.

"Don't say things like that." He said, confusing her.

"Huh?"

"Believing is half the battle, right?" If there was one thing anime had taught him, it was that.

Rias chuckled at that.

"You know," She said, a minute later. "Nobody thinks we have a chance tomorrow. All of them just think this is all just a tantrum. Indulging in a child's whining."

"Let's prove them wrong, then."


End file.
